The new Verizon DROID devices announced last week had been thoroughly leaked before the event, but one thing nobody expected was Motorola's new X8 mobile computing platform. The Google subsidiary was intentionally vague when discussing the chip, leaving us scratching our heads. Now Motorola has opened up about the hardware powering those DROIDs, and maybe the Moto X, which will be announced tomorrow.

We already knew the X8 was based on a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro.

As with some previous Verizon flagship devices, employees are being given a customized version of the new Motorola DROID Ultra. Well, "given" may be too strong a word - they get a reduced $99 price ($100 off) with a two-year contract. Verizon will also throw in some DROID-branded accessories, namely a free case and some SOL Republic JAX earbuds. Droid-Life spotted the Employee Edition, presumably on an internal store, set to ship on August 20th with the other DROIDs.

Motorola and Verizon unveiled the newest members of the DROID family today, and I had some time to play with these freshly-minted Kevlar constructions. My initial conclusion? These phones are all really, really alike.

In fact, it is easier to talk about the ways they are different than the ways they are the same. The Ultra is slimmest of the three (it's also the only not packing Qi wireless charging, because it would make the phone thicker).

We've known for a while what Verizon was going to announce today, but the company just made it's new Holy Trinity of Motorola Droids official: the Droid Ultra, Droid MAXX, and Droid Mini. As expected, all three are successors to last year's Droid M, RAZR HD, and RAZR MAXX. While the Mini is basically in a league of its own, the Ultra and MAXX are kindred spirits, essentially only being separated by battery capacity and thickness.

We have less than half a day left before the big Verizon triple-threat reveal of the new 2013 DROID family in New York City and San Francisco. The DROID Mini, DROID Ultra, and DROID MAXX should be worthy follow-ups to last year's DROID RAZR M, DROID RAZR HD, and DROID RAZR MAXX HD. In this post, I'm not going to talk about processor specs, RAM, or internal storage. Instead, I wanted to provide reliable information about these phones' batteries, along with the confirmations of wireless charging support built right into them.

It's a good time to be in the market for a powerful, deep red phone. The HTC One can be found sporting a glamorous exterior, and it apparently isn't alone. Leaked photos of the DROID Ultra have surfaced, showing Motorola's upcoming device available in a color very appropriate for a phone exclusive to the Big Red. This is no lazy paint job, as the phone's entire Kevlar backside has changed colors.

It's time for Verizon to roll out its next wave of exclusive devices, as the company has just sent out invitations to its upcoming press event. Verizon will hold the shindig in New York City on July 23rd, where we expect the carrier to announce the latest generation of its DROID handsets. Likely candidates include the DROID Ultra, the DROID MAXX (an Ultra with a bigger battery), and the DROID Mini (convenient travel sized).

Motorola has new phones for Verizon coming very soon, in case you hadn't heard. We've already seen a pretty convincing leak of the DROID MAXX, a Kevlar-cloaked updated version of Moto's DROID RAZR MAXX HD. Leakster extraordinaire Evleaks just posted another press shot, this time showing off the DROID Mini (or possibly MINI) next to the DROID Ultra and the nearly identical DROID MAXX with a bigger battery. The Mini and Ultra are assumed to be updated versions of the DROID RAZR M and DROID RAZR HD, respectively.

Here it is, ladies and gentlemen, the next DROID. Again. After being revealed in white over the weekend, along with the face of its MAXX sibling on Friday night, the Ultra is all but officially Verizon's next big thing to wear the caps lock-enhanced, Lucasfilm-licensed DROID moniker. And it's a thing of... well, not beauty. Beauty really isn't the right word. It's a thing of carbon fiber Kevlar (thanks for pointing that out), and I'll let you draw your own aesthetic conclusions on that basis.